"You look drunk, sweetheart." The elf dusted herself off, throwing half-melted snow onto the floor while watching the overly giddy ancient running up the stairs.
"I can''t get drunk, Iris. Those mortal poisons can''t beat me," Kia spun around, her long dress billowing out like a blossoming flower revealing intricate lace along the hemline before settling down softly shrouding her long legs. "I feel supercalifragilisticexpialidocious today Iris like everything is oddly wonderful, and I can’t stop smiling!"
"And that is because?" Kia''s golden and blue eyes followed Iris as she climbed to join her side.
"Iris... why does speaking become hard when you look at me like that."
"So it''s my fault?" A finger brushed against Kia''s cheek as she puffed them out in a disarming pout.
"I think I will finish reading everything interesting in... that word for time."
"That word for time?" The elf unhurriedly asked continuing her touch coaxing Kia''s melodic voice out of her. "Bell, day, week, month, year? Don''t force yourself to use Common with me."
"I''m not, I don''t know what words I know mean. Until you arrived time sort of never mattered. Is a season a lot Iris? I always thought it sounded like a lot but the weather changes so often I no longer know." The immortal in front of the elf blushed in embarrassment before hiding her face in her palms as Kia wrested her head against Iris''s torso.
"Season is not a word with a set length of time. When we landed in Edor, it was the middle of Autumn and we are now in early Winter. You don''t have to be embarrassed Kia. We got teleported far into the north and seasons change depending on where you are. You''re going to learn all of this in time," Iris said gently, resting a reassuring hand on Kia''s head. Her voice was soft like the snowflakes drifting down outside the window. "You’ve just never had a reason to notice before, that’s all. Seasons don’t matter to someone who doesn’t feel the cold or the passage of time, but now… things are different, aren’t they?"
Kia peeked out from behind her fingers, her crimson cheeks still flushed with embarrassment. "They are." She responded flooding the metal link they shared with pleasant feelings even the mortal soul of the elf could understand. "I''m going to finish all the books after a season."
"My neck-romancer looks so pretty when she is happy." Iris smiled, her finger tracing Kia''s nape but the girl nuzzled closer and cooed unaware of what the elf did. "I''m sometimes mortified by how my puns fly over your head. I''m dead-icating myself to laugh at least once at these."
"I feel funny when you''re promising these things." The girl unglued herself from her Anchor and walked ahead of her with an energetic skip in the stride.
"I''m half done, I guess." Iris laughed as she pulled keys from a pocket hidden in the folds of her maid''s dress.
<hr>
POV Change
An ever-shifting array of lights shimmered in the darkness and dreamy visions assaulted the mind drifting helplessly through the soul-realm. A bright light, brighter than all others surged forward causing invisible walls to squeeze the whisp moulding it into an ever smaller ember, twisting it to an unnatural shape. Stone-hard stillness gripped the small whisp and it crept over its surface like an army of ants, biting and stinging leaving painful numbness behind. The petrification continued down, finding a way inside the High Executor before he began to fall, striking the invisible floor with a dull thud.
The vision cleared as the mind of the last Scalrith used all that he learned to see clearly through the Dream''s meandering paths of time. Shadows of what could have been moved, overlapped as Fiikhindqah strained his senses at what happened. A golden-clad knight stood atop the spire of his Order, blood dripping from his glowing blade onto the floor of the Secret Hall as the words of a curse tolled through the vision.
In the blink of an eye, the image blurred as centuries flew by him because of a single slip of his concentration, the memory of his race''s death, inducing the most feral of rages. The passing colours washing around him in a continuous stream of light screeched as he flexed his magical prowess managing it to slow down enough for the unintelligible mirage of colours to transform into images of years flying by around the vessel he was stuck in, his soul slowly burning away.
A figure of a human cradling the wooden statue suddenly passed by him and the dying flame inside the vessel burned brighter. The face of the human was the same round fleshy face he struggled to distinguish but as Fiikhindqah stared into the vision trying to remember how his awakener looked he noticed something different. The human’s face, once vibrant and filled with life, now bore the marks of exhaustion and burden. Dark circles hung beneath weary eyes as he clasped his hands together before moving to stand up and shake a figure lying behind him. Unaware of the heat he felt up until now, the chronomancer''s stubby fingers shook from cold deep within as the human got further away.
*Gasp*
The lizardman jolted upright, time speeding behind his closed eyelids. A sharp, audible gasp tore from his lipless mouth, ragged and desperate, filling his lungs with cold air as he fought for every breath. Resembling someone pulled from the depths of an endless ocean. His chest heaved as if his lungs were starved for air, each breath trembling with the weight of unseen memories. Wide eyes, glazed with a mix of shock and clarity, darted around the room, unseeing but searching for reassurance in the tangible world before comprehending his unfamiliarity with the small surroundings.
"You''re not drowning are you?" A familiar voice asked and he couldn''t decide if the voice meant his coughing or the vision.
"No, I''m not. Where am I?"
"Iris called this, servant''s quarter. We both collapsed in the room behind this wall if that helps." The shorter undead standing beside the large window answered, a strange golem standing right on a nightstand beside him.
"Where is the other undead."
"Iris went to the bakery for fresh bread. She really likes the white one with crusty skin and fluffy innards," She walked closer and the lizard man sensed the short doll-like golem with an ugly skull mask for a face straightening its back even more. "Explain yourself hide-farm."The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"That''s uncalled f-"
"You called me old lizard and we both passed out at the same time. Seeing how you exited your sleep suggested some sort of vision."
"You also saw a vision? What did you see."
"Nothing important." The elder undead coldly replied making the golem at her side tense up somehow despite its clay body.
"Nothing involving this era, huh?" The lonely chronomancer asked receiving no answer.
"What was your vision about?"
"It was about my awakener. I was witnessing what was happening around the dragon idol that the hero forced me into. I need to start looking for him." Urgency lased Fiikhindqah''s reply.
"You keep saying awakener, but that is not a proper terminology for anyone in a contract between any arrangments of creatures or monsters." Her cold technical questions reminded the Executor of a quartermaster he knew, always prodding to see how he would respond.
"It''s not. I was cursed to inhabit a wooden statue till that golden boy needed my seer abilities. As if I would tell him anything after such a wipe." The scales on his body chaffed on each other in anger. "I call the human who had freed me under the same rules from the statue awakener. I need to find him."
"Why though?" The monster masquerading as a pale human tilted her head.
"He is in danger. Why else would he unseal me?"
"Idiot. The link you share has no clauses. It only limits your level similar to how my bond with Iris works. Nothing is preventing you from waiting and outlasting that mortal. You''re not a summon, there is no duty making you do this." The ancients called Kia furrowed her brows, not happy about the lizardman''s response as her eyes flashed with light.
"What clauses did you embed within your link?" Fiikhindqah''s wings shifted slightly, the leathery membranes catching the faint light filtering in through the window.
"None! None whatsoever. She is free that’s why I created her. She is untouched by the filth you forced me to recall. Comparing the bond I share with her to the crude, restrictive thing that confines you was nothing more than a poorly measured act of pity for a simpleton like you." The girl''s voice was cold and sterile yet unable to completely hide a certain disgust making the scales on his body stand in alertness.
"That human had fueled my soul while I was stuck. I would have withered away if not for him," Fiikhindqah retorted still unsure if Kia had called him or the Hero the idiot. "Have you ever seen a soul wither away? And why would it matter if I had a duty to save him? This is not a quest I want to find him and save him... that is the least I can do. Why do you care what I want even?"
"Because I don''t understand why? Why is there a different look in your eyes now? Why do you don''t do as I expect you to? I don''t want Iris to help you. There is something wrong in here and yet I know what she will say if I try to stop her. I will give another mortal if you stay here, teaching me and not making Iris risk herself without me at her side. I even will let you pick which one."
"You don''t understand do you?" Fiikhindqah''s large, round eyes widened in disbelief, his jaw tightening as the words hit him. His wings fluttered nervously, but his voice, though calm, held a steely determination. "I watched my race being deleted because I was too blind to see the present. My awakener cared for this poor Sole Scale, I have nowhere to go. Balgriff the Old had taught us to reciprocate the goodness we receive and I will obey our Scale Father even if that is the last thing I ought to do."
"Why do you care about this mortal so much though? If what matters to your dragon is the total number of good deeds done, my option comes with the guaranteed statistical probability of doing more good," The undead looked baffled by the lizard''s response and her eyes shined brightly as they locked onto him. "You said it yourself, the mortal is in danger. You had failed to protect him and you need my Iris to do your duty for you. Why do you not do as I say? You can always find another human." The words were calm, almost clinical, but they struck a nerve. Fiikhindqah’s jaw tightened, his scaled hands balling into fists at his sides. He opened his mouth to respond, but what came out wasn’t measured or calculated it was raw and impulsive, a guttural reply torn straight from the depths of his soul.
"You''re acting like a Dungeon Core, this is not about numbers! This is about something far beyond that. Think what if Iris were to suffer her final death? Would you speak to me like this then Undead? Would you be so willing to discard her existence so casually? You can always make another Iris anyway." He spoke letting his emotions flow through his words, not realising that as soon as the name of the taller undead left his chest the unfeeling golem beside him disappeared, hiding as the very shadows in the room leaned closer, drawn by the weight of the words he just uttered.
"Die?" A soft whisper hung in the air and the shadows around the two completely closed in on the chronomancer.
Without a warning, a hand burning with colourless flame grabbed his neck, its fingers locking around his flesh like the claws of death upon a soul. Fiikhindqah realised that he was thrown onto the ground and before he could do anything the ancient''s aura hit him.
The room pulsed with an oppressive darkness, every shadow trembling as though alive, quivering in anticipation of the carnage. Kia stood over him, her expression as hollow and unfeeling as a grave, her eyes gleaming like two fragments of the void itself. The colourless flames licking at her hand spread down her arm, casting ghostly reflections on the walls that seemed to twist and writhe with an almost sentient malice.
Fiikhindqah''s body convulsed, but it was no longer his to command. The ancient''s aura seeped into him, filling his veins with cold, invasive dread. His lungs gasped for air, yet his ribs betrayed him, constricting against the effort, crushing his breath into silence. The scales that had once been his pride, his armour, lay scattered around him in pools of blood as they were forced out by his flesh flaying itself free. Each strip of flesh peeled away leaving glistening sinew exposed to the cold air. His dull claws dug themselves into his belly ripping more of himself until they ripped away leaving bloody stumps to fruitlessly continue moving like on strings.
The faint light in the room seemed to dim further as the first droplet of his blood struck the stone floor, and then another, the rhythm building like the beats of a somber dirge. Kia tilted her head, her hand still hovering over him, as if orchestrating every violent movement with a mere thought. His body contorted unnaturally, joints popping out of place and resetting in a grotesque dance that left him writhing in a spiral of agony.
From deep within his chest, something primal and ancient fought to rise a growl, a scream, anything to defy this torment but all that emerged was a wet, guttural choke. Blood spewed from his lips, painting the floor in streaks of crimson that seemed to crawl toward Kia, drawn to her as if by a sinister magnetism.
Her emotionless eyes narrowed and with a flick of her wrist, his ribs began to move. Fiikhindqah''s vision blurred, dark tendrils licking at the edges of his consciousness, but Kia would not allow him the mercy of fainting. With surgical precision, the undead moved her hand and a gaping hole opened in the lizardman''s torso, wet thumping loudly reminding him where his heart was before his warm blood surged across his mutilated body and into the opening making his mind scream despite his mouth slowly being sew shut with his own fangs.
"Kia!" The bloody puppet threat came to an unexpected stop as a voice made the face of Scalrith''s tormentor move away from the source of her wrath.
The girl''s lip trembled as she stared at the door, her expression frozen as if struggling to comprehend reality while tears began to roll down her face.
"Kia, wait!" The elf called out as the body of the Scalrith dropped like a marionette having its stings cut as the ancient ran into the bedroom.
Stepping over the barely breathing mess Iris followed after her creator, leaving the golems to deal with it. With bloody footprints guiding her every step, the elf found her necromancer sitting on the floor with her back pressed against the hardwood of the bed frame.
"No, that can''t happen. No..."
"Shhh, Kia, it''s okay, sweetheart. I''m here. Nothing''s going to happen to you I promise." The risen knelt beside the trembling porcelain doll, her tears glistening like fractured glass as she clung to her knees, lost in a storm of delirium.
"That would never happen." She muttered, the sheet of fabric behind her slowly being engulfed by ice crystals even as the fire slowly uncovered a skeleton.
"Kia, what are you talking about?" The elf pulled the girl toward herself before stopping as the ancient bared her teeth at her, hissing like a wild animal as she neared her neck. "Kia you''re not drinking from me."
"I want to forget now..." She managed to plead between snotty sobs.
"Sweetheart stop crying, I''m here already. You''re safe with me." Kia shook her head as she continued to press closer while crying. Her saviour was seemingly not fully present as she tried to calm down the ancient.
Iris’s thumbs moved delicately over the tear-streaked skin, brushing away the droplets with infinite care. Yet the effort seemed futile every time Kia’s eyes dried and she fully opened them to meet Iris’s gaze, the cycle began anew. The tears returned, spilling forth in waves as if the sight of the risen rekindled a sorrow too great to bear.
"Cryoicu, my Sun and Star stop crying. You''re safe now with me," Iris''s hands crept down resting on Kia''s shoulders, pulling on her nape like an annoyed cat pulling her kittens away. “Think only about me, Kia,” Iris continued her words as an anchor to the distressed mage. “Close your eyes. Listen to my breathing. Feel the flow of my mana. It’s steady, calm just like you’ll be if you are a good girl you are. Close those beautiful eyes and think of nothing else but this moment.” Too focused on Kia, the elf didn’t notice as her fingers clasped gently yet firmly around the girl’s slender neck, slipping beneath the stiff collar of her shirt with unconscious care.
"Iris~" Kia’s voice trembled, a soft, delicate sound slipping through her parted lips, growing warmer as it deepened into a quiet purr as she did as told, instantly slipping into a deep slumber.
Iris gathered Kia in her arms, the petite mage nestling perfectly in the curve between her chin and knees as she waited. Guarding Kia through the night, watching her for an opportunity to slip out from the desperate grasp she held, in an effort to understand what happened better.